← The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka
The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka
288. Koa Smith: You're Facing Your Fear the Wrong Way. A Top Big-Wave Surfer's Method
01:00:42
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- [00:00]
Koa Smith
Facing your fear is the interesting thing. And it's funny because in surfing it comes in waves. Even though I have surfing and I tested my fear, you have to show up and face it every time it arises.
- [00:13]
Gary Brea
For 15 years you've been walking into waves that could kill you. And one thing we know about fear is it narrows your ability to make decisions which would put you at greater risk. But I've never met somebody who meditates regularly who hasn't told me that it changed their life.
- [00:27]
Koa Smith
Meditation is the practice of becoming aware and strengthening that muscle in your mind. All of a sudden you feel so connected. All of a sudden, like fear doesn't really exist.
- [00:38]
Gary Brea
I know so many people that I hold in such high regard, like meditation, that have had life changing experiences with psychedelics.
- [00:44]
Koa Smith
Psychedelics are there and it's a very powerful tool if you need it. But also you can get there through meditation. But it takes a lot more surrendering, letting go, dealing with your stuff and then it's, you can get there.
- [00:55]
Gary Brea
Describe the transcendental meditation. What does that look like? When do you do it? How do you do it?
- [01:00]
Koa Smith
One mechanism that I had that was really interesting, I called it. Ultimate Human.
- [01:16]
Gary Brea
Hey guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human podcast. I'm your host, human biologist Gary Brea. Where we go down the road of everything. Anti aging, biohacking, longevity, and everything in between. And today's guest is kind of one of those in betweens that I think you're going to get a lot out of. As I was doing the guest research on today's guest, I really found it fascinating. So listen to this introduction. He's considered a professional surfer, a storyteller, an entrepreneur and an abundance advocate. So that one caught my attention. Abundance advocate. Because abundance is missing from the mindset of most of us that have a scarcity mentality. So I'm really excited to run the podcast with you today. Welcome to the Ultimate Human. Co host.
- [01:56]
Koa Smith
Thank you for having me.
- [01:57]
Gary Brea
Thank you. Legend.
- [01:58]
Koa Smith
Yeah, thank you.
- [01:59]
Gary Brea
You know, I could go through like the accolades so that people would be like, well why should I listen to this guy? Three time NSSA national champion. I mean it's unbelievable. Best barrel 2014 surfer pole, inaugural winner of the GoPro of the world. Perfect 30 point ride. When then a 25 point backup in the 2024 Vans Pipe Masters not that long ago. Two time Eddie, am I saying this right? A cow invitee?
- [02:26]
Koa Smith
Yeah, it's like a big wave event, really intense like and then ABC is
- [02:30]
Gary Brea
the ultimate surfer, which are maybe some copyright infringement with the ultimate human. We'll find out later, but the ultimate surfer. But what I'm most fascinated about is, you know, this theme that runs through a lot of my podcast guests, and it's definitely present in you. And I feel like the most impactful people, the most passionate, purposeful people have solved some kind of problem in their life. And I want to get into your traumatic brain injury and how you. You healed from that. But for 15 years, you. You've been walking into waves that could kill you. And so fear has got to be something that was very present in your career. I think about UFC fighters, boxers, professional athletes, surfers. Just an everyday, everyday human beings that are just gripped by fear. And the one thing we know about fear is it narrows your ability to make decisions which would put you at greater risk. So I'd love to start there on your journey. Like, how did you learn to manage the fear of the ocean?
- [03:46]
Koa Smith
I mean, fear is such an interesting one that we all walk around caring. Right. Like, even. Even though I have surfing and I've tested my fear, you have to show up and face it every time it arises. Right. Just because I did it, you know, yesterday doesn't mean I have a free pass on it today. And I think that's something that's really prevalent with surfing. The beautiful thing about surfing is you start slow, you start small. Right. I started surfing when I was three years old. To me, dropping in on a wave knee high, that was scary. But you do that and then you kind of. You learn that it's okay. You start learning the ocean, you start being able to identify what's dangerous and not dangerous, and essentially, you just keep exploring that until you are surfing waves that are absolutely ginormous. And, you know, facing your fear is the interesting thing. It's like you literally, when you feel that, and it's funny because in surfing, it comes in. It comes in waves.
- [04:51]
Gary Brea
No pun intended.
- [04:52]
Koa Smith
Yeah. And when that wave comes, are you going to shrink or are you going to expand and trust and go and it. What's the feeling after? Like, if you shrunk and you didn't go and you were safe, how do you feel after that? Not super good.
- [05:17]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [05:18]
Koa Smith
You don't know what could have happened back there. You could have got the wave of your life. You could have experienced something amazing. Yes. You could have gotten injured, too. But in my experiences, life takes you down that road, and if you do get injured, that's. That's your path. That becomes your teacher, you know?
- [05:36]
Gary Brea
Yeah. So what are some of the practices that you deployed to kind of channel that fear. I know you're a big fan of breath work, visualization presence training, cold exposure. Like, how have you woven those into your professional and maybe even your non professional career over the years to help you stay focused and manage that fear? Because I think it's applicable not just to people that are facing the fear of death, but like fear of starting a business, the fear of maybe not raising their kids right. The fear of starting a new relationship. I mean it's, it's something that all human beings grapple with. And the less we face it and embrace it or, or learn to cope with it, you know, the more it, it rules our life.
- [06:23]
Koa Smith
I'll say that the better I feel, the clearer I am, the easier it is to face and see through that fear. And if I'm not feeling good, if I didn't sleep very good, or I'm anxious or over caffeinated or I ate shitty, then sometimes that fear just engulfs me and I. And I can't see through it. So the better I'm taking care of myself. My flow nowadays is like, it involves a lot of meditation, it involves a lot of sleep. Like my diet is like, it's very clean. That's the baseline.
- [07:00]
Gary Brea
Right.
- [07:01]
Koa Smith
Every day there's these moments that I feel fear. Even if it's just like telling someone they're, they're whatever, thank you for whatever.
- [07:13]
Gary Brea
Right.
- [07:14]
Koa Smith
Talking to a stranger, approaching someone, telling them like, if I am constantly practicing overcoming those little moments of fear, then when that bigger moment of fear comes, I'm more comfortable with it.
- [07:27]
Gary Brea
Yeah. So it has. So breath work and meditation, are those like daily practices of yours?
- [07:34]
Koa Smith
Yeah, I was super into Wim Hof breathing for like 15 years ago maybe. Wow. Like ice baths, Wim Hof.
- [07:42]
Gary Brea
Like, damn, you were like, you're like the OG of it. Yeah, I've been into it for six years and it's changed my life.
- [07:46]
Koa Smith
Me, me and my brothers were like always kind of, I don't want to say like on the. Yeah, maybe on the forefront of like saunas, ice baths. I mean, I grew up on Kauai. Laird Hamilton is a nearby neighbor. So you kind of hear through the grapevine that Laird's doing this thing.
- [08:05]
Gary Brea
Yeah. You know, he's getting cold water. Dude.
- [08:08]
Koa Smith
He's strapping weights to himself and swimming in the river. Like he's, he's putting butter in his coffee. No way. So I don't know, I feel like it kind of trickled down from the layered God. And you kind of Hear these things and you start applying them, and then you start feeling it. And so, yeah, breath work. I mean, for me now it's more on the meditation side.
- [08:33]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [08:34]
Koa Smith
I learned transcendental meditation when I was 17, went down that path for a little bit. And then the last, like, three years of my. Three, three or four years, I've been deep into Joe Dispenza's meditation work.
- [08:48]
Gary Brea
Huge fan.
- [08:49]
Koa Smith
Yeah. And you just. I don't know, like, you just feel so powerful and so good when you feel all that energy in your body and your heart's like, exploding all of a sudden, and you feel so connected all of a sudden. Like, I don't know, like fear doesn't really exist, you know?
- [09:09]
Gary Brea
You know, I've. I've. I have dabbled in the. I'm definitely an avid breath work person every every day of my life. I don't think I've missed breath work in probably four years. Every, every day. It's a consistent part of my morning routine. It's consistent part of my nighttime routine. But I haven't been deep down the rabbit hole of meditation. But I've never met somebody who meditates regularly who hasn't told me that it changed their life. Everyone, I mean, you know, that. That. I mean, some people that I hold in very, very high regard have said meditation was the switch that changed everything. So for someone that's not familiar with meditating, me, I think they think it's like, close your eyes and imagine a beach or put yourself in a happy place. But describe, like, the Transcendental Meditation or. Or the Wim Hof meditation. What does that look like? When do you do it? How do you do it?
- [10:03]
Koa Smith
Yeah. So I feel like breath work is obviously. I mean, is also a meditation. I feel like I recommend breathwork for people that have a really busy mind. That's what people say. I can't meditate. My mind's so crazy. And literally, meditation is the practice of becoming aware and strengthening that muscle in your mind. Right. So when you're meditating, say, transcendental Meditation that gives you a mantra, or Joe Dispenza's meditation. He's walking you through different focal points, whether that's focusing on your heart, focusing on the space around your body, and you need to catch yourself when you're not focusing on the mantra or the focus point. So you can be meditating for 20 minutes, but if you're down the rabbit hole of your to do list and, oh, I can't believe that person said that. And then next Thing, you know, you're like, oh, my God, the meditation's over. Great, great meditation. But if you can catch yourself and notice when you're not focusing on what your task is and bring yourself back to that task, every time you bring yourself back to that task, it gets more intense. So you're learning how to concentrate your energy and your ability to focus in the present moment. And with that comes, like, just a lot of really good feelings. But also, what I've noticed in some of my deeper meditation is all of a sudden, that thought that comes to you is something that has been holding you back. So at first it's like, oh, yeah, I forgot, I got to do that tomorrow. And you bring yourself back, and then, oh. And then all of a sudden your body is like, oh, this isn't working. We gotta. We got to call in the big guns, you know?
- [11:57]
Gary Brea
And it's like, we got to tell the truth.
- [11:58]
Koa Smith
You remember that one time your dad said this to you when you were six?
- [12:03]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [12:03]
Koa Smith
And you're like, holy shit, I haven't thought about that in a really long time. And then you're like, oh, my God, that really affected me. And all of a sudden you're, like, thinking about it and you're in this. You're, you're. And for me, it's visual. Like, I'm there and I'm feeling it. I'm like, I'm getting chicken skin right now. But in that moment, all of a sudden, you're able to see it from your perspective. Now you're revisiting that moment, and maybe you can see his side of the story, and you can see your side of the story. And then if you can, like, forgive it and dissolve it, then all of a sudden, that just healed this huge, energetic blockage that has been holding you back your whole life. And you haven't known about it because you're so caught up. And then every time you, like, free those blockages, all of a sudden you have access to more presence. And when you're living your life throughout the day, essentially, the meditation never ends. Because when you're walking, you're noticing, oh, am I thinking about something or am I actually walking? Am I here in the present moment? Yeah, you start feeling like, oh, I actually don't like doing what I do, or something like that. And you're, wow, maybe I should think about that or I should go for a run or I should stop eating processed foods or whatever. Right? So, I mean, that was kind of a long winded answer of, I feel like meditation is Strengthening that muscle of like realizing that you are free and you can do whatever you want, but you have to like, be aware of what you want.
- [13:46]
Gary Brea
So many people, like I said, that I hold in such high regard that describe the very exact same experience. And Will Ahmed, who's the CEO of whoop, was one of the guys that told me, you know, here he is, he's built a multi billion dollar company, you know, from 0 to 10 billion in valuation and had this massive impact on allowing people to have, you know, control of their health data. And, and a lot of what he conceptualizes, he does through, through meditation. And then after talking to Will, I've talked to dozens of other people about, you know, just the, the impact that it's had on changing the trajectory of their life. Similar to what you're saying. Like we drown out the voices that we need to hear and we don't listen to the voices that we should. And that was their best way of describing meditation to me. Because, you know, you actually eventually learn to hear the voices that you should hear. Cause it's your own voice. Listen, there's what I share on this podcast and then there's what I share with my inner circle. If you've been following me for a while, you know how I hold nothing back here but my VIP community. That's where the real magic happens. Picture this. You're struggling with energy crashes, brain fog, or just feeling like you're not operating at your peak and you don't know where to get real answers. But here's what really sets this apart. You're not just getting my insights. When I have incredible guests on the podcast vi, VIP members get to submit questions for a private podcast segment. So that world renowned expert we just interviewed, you get exclusive access to their knowledge tailored to your specific situation. This section is under the private podcast section in the Ultimate Human Community. And speaking of exclusive, you're getting my personal protocols, the exact tools I use for water fasting, gut optimization, and morning routines that have taken me decades to perfect. This isn't theory. This is what works in the real world. The community launches challenges throughout the year where you get direct access to me and my network of experts. It's like having a personal health advisory board for less than $100 a month. Your health is your wealth. And this investment pays dividends for Life. Join the VIP community at the ultimatehuman.com VIP and step into your ultimate potential. Now let's get back to the Ultimate Human podcast.
- [15:58]
Koa Smith
Yeah, and then once that, once you become best friends with your Own voice.
- [16:02]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [16:02]
Koa Smith
Then like what? Yeah, because then you're like, oh, I'm not like, I really want to do this. I know I should do this. I'm sure you've felt that with, oh yeah. Growing these businesses, talking to these people, reaching out these things you know you should do. But then all of a sudden you're like, I'm not ready, I'm. And you're like, what? I noticed that that's holding me back. So actually I'm gonna do it. And then when you do it, that voice gets louder and all of a sudden you, you like have this guide.
- [16:35]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [16:35]
Koa Smith
All you have to do is follow it.
- [16:36]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [16:37]
Koa Smith
It's interesting.
- [16:38]
Gary Brea
Let's, let's go back to that moment where you had the traumatic bearing injury, which was from a reef, as I understand it. Hazards of the job. And I don't profess to know a lot about professional surfing, but I have, you know, watch documentaries and I, I've admired it from afar and I know that sometimes when those waves draw back, they seem to be crashing into relatively shallow water. And so, you know, if you, if you were taken over by a wave, I mean, you're just literally being pile driven into solid rock basically.
- [17:14]
Koa Smith
Potentially, Yeah. I mean like falling off a balcony. Well, yeah. What creates a good wave is like, you know, open ocean, deep water, going to shallower water, and there's these different shaped reefs around the world that create like these legendary waves. Right. So that is a risk. And my, my brain injury was my, my greatest teacher. Absolutely. And actually before that I had a head injury where I got ran over by Jet Ski. It wasn't going super fast, but I still got ran over by Jet Ski. And that was like my first concussion experience. Like 30 minutes later, all of a sudden, like I couldn't see out of my right eye. My, my, something started happening in my pocket and I realized my phone was ringing and my brother who was sitting next to me accidentally pocket dialed me. And I like looked at the phone and I saw his name and I was like, alex Smith. Like, who is that? Who could that be? No, like, just no idea what was going on. And similar to like a really wild psychedelic experience too, which I could relate to. So that was my first concussion experience. And I realized then and there that like when you're in that state, freaking out doesn't help.
- [18:46]
Gary Brea
Right.
- [18:47]
Koa Smith
You know, like there's kind of, even
- [18:49]
Gary Brea
though that's the go to for most
- [18:50]
Koa Smith
of us, the only thing you can do is tell yourself you're going to be okay. Stay Present and just let it. Hopefully it passes. Right. Because it's. It's completely scary. Everything you've ever known or just have experience all of a sudden is different. And you're just like, mom, help.
- [19:07]
Gary Brea
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [19:08]
Koa Smith
You know, so. So two years after that, or maybe three years, rough timeline. I ended up hitting my head on the reef and I got another concussion.
- [19:19]
Gary Brea
So you got knocked fully unconscious.
- [19:21]
Koa Smith
I did, yeah.
- [19:22]
Gary Brea
In the water. That's super dangerous.
- [19:24]
Koa Smith
For sure. Yeah. I came to underwater, which was interesting.
- [19:29]
Gary Brea
Wow.
- [19:30]
Koa Smith
I had like, I mean, could have been a near death experience. You know, one of those moments where I. I hit something. Like I pulled into this barrel, I was too deep. I got launched and I hit something. And all it felt like was just like a ragdoll shake.
- [19:50]
Gary Brea
Like, wow.
- [19:52]
Koa Smith
And all of a sudden everything was blue. And I could hear the most peaceful violin music ever. I still remember the song. It was just like the most calming, beautiful violin music. And then all of a sudden I felt the rag doll again and I was like, oh. Like, where am I? Oh, I'm underwater. Oh, shit. Don't black out. Don't black out. Don't black out. And then got to the surface and luckily there wasn't another wave. So I was able to grab my board and paddle over. And I, like, there was a water photographer. I was like, I think I hit my board and I looked over and there was just like coral reef scratch in my whole arm, whole back, whole back of my head. But I did have a huge dent on my board. So I maybe hit my head on my board, knocked out, hit my head on the reef and then came back. That's kind of maybe the theory. Wow. Yeah. So that experience was really interesting because right after that it came back to what I experienced of kind of like forgetting what you're doing, where you are. And I was like, just trying to get in.
- [21:08]
Gary Brea
Yeah. You said like double faces. Even depression set in.
- [21:12]
Koa Smith
Yeah.
- [21:12]
Gary Brea
Like something you hadn't grappled with before. Because you don't seem like you would ever be a depressed person after.
- [21:17]
Koa Smith
I mean, that, that was a big lesson for me because I'm a professional surfer, surf big waves. Like, I don't have to talk. I can just do it. I can go out. I don't have to prove anything to anyone. I can just go out and I can surf. And all my hard work, all everything shines through. This is my expression. Take that expression away from you, then. Who are you?
- [21:38]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [21:39]
Koa Smith
How do you find that connection? How do you find that feeling if you don't have that outlet anymore.
- [21:45]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [21:45]
Koa Smith
And also not having the right support medically, not being able to. There was no path for me. It was. I had a hard time getting a brain scan because they were like, we don't want you to see that nothing's there. And then you'll start surfing again and you could really hurt yourself. So no brain scan for you. Just cruise and heal, basically. And after like eight months of that, I was like, do I have a brain tumor? Because something's happening and I don't know what it is.
- [22:23]
Gary Brea
What were the symptoms of that? I know you talk about double faces and depressive, like, symptoms, but noise was
- [22:32]
Koa Smith
a huge one for me. Super sensitive, super sensitive noise, crazy headaches. Stress was not like I would. I would get so stressed out that I could feel my head was so hot that it felt like it was just like an engine gonna explode. So if something was stressing me out, it was just like the level. Maybe I couldn't. I couldn't handle the stress or something. There was no, like, regulating it.
- [23:01]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [23:02]
Koa Smith
But the things that helped me was, the number one thing that helped me was the forest. Really. I would bring a hammock and a journal and a book and I just fuck off and go in the forest for like eight hours some days.
- [23:15]
Gary Brea
No kidding.
- [23:16]
Koa Smith
And I felt so good. Really? Yeah. It was really interesting.
- [23:21]
Gary Brea
It's like Eastern medicine has been prescribing forest bathing for centuries. You know, that's a. That's a huge thing in, in Eastern medicine is forest bathing.
- [23:33]
Koa Smith
I mean, I still do it to this day. It's like one of my favorite tools.
- [23:37]
Gary Brea
How'd you figure out the beach to the ocean? Or was it just you just wanted to get away from everything? You sort of accidentally realized that me just trying to get away from all of this cacophony of modern society. I just went hug a hammock between two trees and grabbed the book. And then all of a sudden I started to feel better.
- [23:54]
Koa Smith
I. I mean, maybe a little bit. For sure. Like trying to get away and just find peace. Like, especially with your phone. Like, there's so much distraction, like, distractions. Hawaii would break my brain. Yeah.
- [24:05]
Gary Brea
Yeah. So you got like the best of the coast and the best of the forest. For sure. It's just such a cool ecosystem for that.
- [24:12]
Koa Smith
I grew up bow hunting really on Hawaii when I was really young. I started bow hunting when I was 12 years old. It was crazy. That's cool. But I think the things that I felt when I was out hunting, like that deep Deep connection where you're like. You hear everything, and all of a sudden you just see the light beams through the trees and the fog and the animals and stuff like that. I think I knew how powerful that was and how it made me feel. So maybe that's where I was. Like, I need to go back there. That kind of thing.
- [24:45]
Gary Brea
Yeah, so. So the forest bathing, which is what it's called, that's when you felt the best.
- [24:52]
Koa Smith
That's when I felt the best, yeah. But it was. It was helping, but it wasn't solving. And I think I kind of got to a point where I started feeling, like, a deep numbness, which was really interesting. Like, my family. You'll meet them one day. They're so beautiful. So positive. Happ. Happy, supportive.
- [25:13]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [25:14]
Koa Smith
At the time, I was in a healthy relationship. Like, I had love around me, but I couldn't feel. I couldn't feel it. I couldn't feel happiness. I couldn't. I almost couldn't even feel sadness. Like, I just had this, like, numbness over me. And one mechanism that I had that was really interesting. Maybe you could help explain this. But I called it, like, slippery thoughts. So, like, I'd have a thought and it would just play and play and play and play and play and go. And then it would get, like, so gnarly that my head would get hot and, like, I couldn't get out of it. And some of those thoughts were about, like, stressful things in my life. But at this time, some of those thoughts would be like, end your life. You could just do it. You could just end your life right now. That would solve. It would solve some things, you know, and the da, da, da, da, da. And I was just like, oh, my gosh, Like, I need help.
- [26:16]
Gary Brea
Yeah, yeah.
- [26:17]
Koa Smith
You know, like, okay. And that's. I went to a. I went to a therapist. She said, oh, I got you. Here's some. Here's some antidepressants.
- [26:27]
Gary Brea
Take. Classic.
- [26:29]
Koa Smith
Take these.
- [26:29]
Gary Brea
Love it.
- [26:30]
Koa Smith
Take them.
- [26:30]
Gary Brea
Yeah, Come on, take them. Take it now. Yeah.
- [26:36]
Koa Smith
But I always had such a deep connection to. To nature and to. I don't know, I just knew that that was not the thing. And I had some light experiences with psychedelics before in my life, and I always knew that, like, the insights they gave me, that if I ever really needed it, I feel like I could use them as a source of healing or understanding. At the same time, it was. When have you seen that movie? Fantastic Fungi by Paul Stammers?
- [27:06]
Gary Brea
Yes, dude, Wild. That movie is spreading across the forest floor, and it Talks about the communication exactly. Between them and the intelligence of this thing as. As. As really just being a very intelligent life force. It completely reframed my. My viewpoint on psychedelics and just. And just fungi and mushrooms in general.
- [27:30]
Koa Smith
Yeah. The mycelium network is able to, like, communicate. Like, let the trees communicate through it and also share nutrients through it. Yeah, Big trees sharing nutrients to the little trees. Just trippy. So, yeah, as I was going.
- [27:44]
Gary Brea
By the way, I'm gonna put a link to that in the show notes because it was super off topic, but it was a great. Yeah, that was an incredible.
- [27:51]
Koa Smith
Yeah, I mean, you'll see how it connects in. In there. He talks about he had a stuttering issue and he did a large dose of psilocybin. He got stuck in a storm. It's a crazy story. He was never able to talk to girls before. You get really nervous and stutter. He went home. All right, while he was in the storm, he was saying, like, I need to stop stuttering. I need to stop stuttering. I need to stop stuttering. Need to stop stuttering. Just return, like, repeating it, repeating it. Went home, went to sleep. Next day, he's walking down the street, beautiful girl walks by, and he goes, hey, how are you doing today? I'm Paul. And from then on, he never stuttered again in his life.
- [28:31]
Gary Brea
Wow.
- [28:32]
Koa Smith
So I heard that that came out, like, literally the day after I was prescribed antidepressants and a light bulb just went bing. I was like, oh, that's what I need to do.
- [28:45]
Gary Brea
Yeah. That's so serendipitous.
- [28:47]
Koa Smith
Yeah. So I ended up going into the deep in the forest. There's a place where I'm from where you can hike in and camp. Like, totally off the grid, no service. You gotta bring everything on your back. And it's like, really that primal life of going back to our ancients, where we're like, you're going to get your food. You know, you're swimming in the water.
- [29:08]
Gary Brea
You're.
- [29:09]
Koa Smith
I mean, we weren't like, eating from the land. We were eating tuna fish sandwiches.
- [29:13]
Gary Brea
Right, right. From a can. Hold that against you, brother. I mean, none of us is bear Grylls, you know, you're like, all you need is a buckle, buck knife and some toothpaste. I mean, some floss and you can, like, kill a bear and, you know. Yeah, for sure.
- [29:30]
Koa Smith
But. But yeah, even though that would be
- [29:32]
Gary Brea
so cool to actually really be able to live off the land, like, truly be able to take, like five items and go into some terrain and live For a month.
- [29:41]
Koa Smith
I mean, you figured out all this. You can figure out.
- [29:44]
Gary Brea
Yeah, yeah, I think you'll be okay.
- [29:46]
Koa Smith
Food will just be landing and laughing.
- [29:49]
Gary Brea
We all spend one third of our lives sleeping one third. That's 25 years of your life on a mattress. Breathing it in, absorbing it through your skin. The US mattress industry is the most chemical heavy in the entire world. 96% of mattresses contain petroleum foams. 92% use chemical flame retardants. You wouldn't eat that, so why would you sleep on it? The ultimate snooze is different. No petroleum, no fiberglass, no boric acid. Just gots certified organic cotton and wool, 100% natural Talalay latex and made in America. It's the only mattress that I backed Gary Breca because it meets my standards for human optimization. Sleep chemical free. Visit theultimate snooze.com and use code ultimate for 10% off. Now let's get to sleep. Now let's get back to the ultimate human podcast. So, so you go into this place and you know, thank God for, you know, like Joe Rogan and, and, and some of these guys like D.J. shipley and some of these Navy SEALs and these foundations that have really started to, to, to bring psychedelics, you know, into the mainstream. Because I think everybody thinks about psychedelics, it's just going and tripping your balls off or Burning man or partying. But the truth is that, I mean, they have real physiologic impact on our brain's ability to heal and our, and their ability to take us out of the present and put us into a dimension where we can independently and truthfully evaluate ourselves. I, I've never done it, but I studied it and it seems like what it does is it removes your ego, like all those protective mechanisms that you have around yourself that say why you shouldn't do something or why you should do something or, or why you're not good at something or why you're going to fail at something. It, it, but it also puts a bright light on who you really are and it like helps you take ownership of the things that are beautiful in your life and also the things that are not so beautiful in your life. And you know, I had a major shift in my life when I realized how damaging my, my ego was and stopped caring about being wealthy and I started caring about people's well being and then as a consequence became wealthy, which is kind of odd. But I want to hear about this because I think psychedelics are becoming more such a timely Podcast because they're coming more into the mainstream. Trump just signed this executive order to accelerate the testing on it. And, and like I was telling you on the balcony, man, I know so many people that I hold in such high regard, like meditation, that have had life changing experiences with psychedelics. So you're in this depressive state. You don't feel a connection to the people that are around you. You know, you have a good relationship with your girlfriend, you got a great family around you.
- [32:42]
Koa Smith
I really forgot who I was. Yeah, I was, I was in this state for so long of, of just like survival mode that I forgot who I was. And I think that was a big a thing. Big thing. But. So the intention was to go up the valley. We were sitting in this most beautiful pond, me and my brother, we were naked in the sun and we took about maybe like 3 grams of mushrooms, which is not like a heroic dose, like 5 grams, but it's, it's heroic dose. It's enough, you know, it's enough.
- [33:18]
Gary Brea
A hero's dose. I love that.
- [33:20]
Koa Smith
I mean, that's what they call it, a hero's dose. Because you gotta be a hero to really let go all of that and go in.
- [33:27]
Gary Brea
You're a little soft that day, but that's okay.
- [33:31]
Koa Smith
But so I was doing Wim Hof breathing. I was just calling it on. And it can be, it's, it's intimidating, you know, because you're taking something.
- [33:40]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [33:41]
Koa Smith
And it's taking you and making you feel. It's the unknown. It's an unknown tsunami. You don't know what's gonna happen and you're not driving the ship, you know, so you have to be very okay and very like, just surrender, surrender, surrender, surrender. And I was just like Wim Hofing, bringing it in, welcoming it, you know, and all of a sudden, I mean, I don't know how deep you want to go into it, man.
- [34:14]
Gary Brea
I mean, let's go.
- [34:15]
Koa Smith
Okay.
- [34:16]
Gary Brea
I mean, yeah, my audience wants to hear it.
- [34:18]
Koa Smith
I remember, like, I, I don't know if you've gone like to an indigenous place before, but like Fiji for an example, when you go to a place, a village or whatever, they, they hold a ceremony for you. You know, they, they sing, they dance, they share their food, they share their. In that situation, their kava or their ava. And they like, they have this ceremonial celebration sharing with you their culture. Right. And as these, as the psilocybin started to hit, it was just like this beautiful ceremony of like beautiful colors. And my eyes are closed here. Beautiful Colors, beautiful. Like, almost like beautiful women, like, kind of coming in, like slowly entering my system. Okay. And then as it got more and more intense, all of a sudden I was in this landscape of. It was almost like, this is just. This is gonna sound. We're talking about a psychedelic trip.
- [35:25]
Gary Brea
Okay.
- [35:25]
Koa Smith
Yeah. Yes. Let me just be very clear.
- [35:28]
Gary Brea
It's a judgment free zone, brother. So the judgment curtain's lifted.
- [35:33]
Koa Smith
So all of a sudden I am on this. My eyes are closed and I'm on this. There's this landscape of the Egyptian pyramids in the distance. And I'm kind of like up here on the top of one of these pyramids. And I look beside me and there's a bench right there. And two of these large light beings, like, they just looked like the sun. They're just boom. Here. Appeared next to me and in a voice that was very vibrational, said, sit down, sit down. Like, demanding. I was like, oh, fuck. Okay. And sit down. And it ended up taking me back to my childhood, who I was when I was five years old. That, like, joyous. Just so excited about life, surfing, hanging with my friends, just so in love with life. And it reminded me in a voice that was pretty intense, like, koa. Like, this is who you were. You're a good person. You're here to do good things. Like, you are loved. You are just da, da, da, da. And it started getting so intense. You know what to do. You have all the tools. You just gotta apply em.
- [36:53]
Gary Brea
Do, do do do do do do do do.
- [36:55]
Koa Smith
And all of a sudden, there was like this explosion in my heart.
- [37:00]
Gary Brea
Wow.
- [37:00]
Koa Smith
My heart just went boom. And that sensation went throughout my whole body and I could feel again. So that numbness of not being able to feel any of those emotions just bathed my. And went through my. Exploded through my whole body.
- [37:18]
Gary Brea
Wow.
- [37:18]
Koa Smith
And after that experience, it was very. It gave me very clear instructions in which I followed that healed my head injury. So the instructions were like, your diet. There's no room for cheating. Caffeine. Like, no caffeine, no stimulants. So nothing that's going to affect your natural energy levels. Because you are on a healing path. You need to know where your baseline is and you need to slowly, slowly grow that baseline. What I found with my head injury is it wasn't like a knee injury where you can kind of feel your knee and be like, I could do a squat. You know, that doesn't hurt that bad. With the head injury, you don't really know. Like, some days you feel good. You'll Go for a run. And then at the end of the run, you're like, oh, shit, I went way too far. And you're in your bed for the next week. So, yeah, it was like, breath, work, meditation, journaling, ocean time, forest time, very clean diet, sleep, like, don't do anything that you don't want to do. Like, don't go to the barbecue because you're invited. Like, take care of yourself and really, like, own your situation. So, wow, I applied that.
- [38:46]
Gary Brea
Such a metaphor for life, man. So many people think that self care is selfish. You know, they develop something called caregiver syndrome. Just constantly putting the needs of everybody else before the needs themselves. And one of them is, you know, socially, like, I know my friends will have a better time if I go out with them, so even though I don't want to go, I'm going to go so they have a better time. It's like you just sort of keep giving yourself away. It's like there's those, those, those withdrawals from the account without any deposits. So it's. I mean, that's really good advice and came from somewhere. But at the time that you needed it the most for sure. So you just heated it. Because this is such a surreal experience.
- [39:31]
Koa Smith
Yeah. And that, like, numbness and depression disappeared. I never felt that again. And after that, I was, I was so happy. Like, it was pretty crazy.
- [39:44]
Gary Brea
Like, literally coming out of those woods that. With your.
- [39:46]
Koa Smith
100. 100.
- [39:48]
Gary Brea
Did your brother notice it right away, too? 100, dude, you're different.
- [39:51]
Koa Smith
Yeah.
- [39:52]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [39:52]
Koa Smith
And I was just happy. I was inspired. I was reconnecting. Reconnected with myself. Could have been a glitch, but when I went back to civilization, my face ID didn't recognize me. Could have been a glitch. I don't know. But we'll add that to the story. And then I was surfing in the next month, and then I ended up two months later getting a crazy wave at Pipeline. And I just had been healing ever since following that.
- [40:20]
Gary Brea
Was that the one you put the GoPro camera in your mouth?
- [40:23]
Koa Smith
I mean, I do that. I do that a lot.
- [40:25]
Gary Brea
But there was one, like, famous 29 second wave.
- [40:28]
Koa Smith
No, that was in Namibia in South Africa.
- [40:31]
Gary Brea
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, I read about that.
- [40:32]
Koa Smith
Yeah.
- [40:33]
Gary Brea
That was wild.
- [40:34]
Koa Smith
Yeah. I mean, and I think another one that's interesting is like, I was always asking people's opinion on how I can heal. What can I do, what can I not do? And then in the end it was just like, just trust yourself, trust that voice and do it, you know? Because people don't know what you're going through. I mean, obviously, if we're talking to you, that helps for sure. There's so many people, like, if you ever hit your head again, you're gonna be a vegetable. Don't surf anymore.
- [41:04]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [41:04]
Koa Smith
I'm just like, oh, what? Like, don't tell me that.
- [41:08]
Gary Brea
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And that probably framed a lot. In fact, that probably drove a lot of the depressive state that you have, because basically what they said is, don't be who you are for the rest of your life.
- [41:19]
Koa Smith
Yeah.
- [41:20]
Gary Brea
And exactly. When you sort of reframe that conversation, I mean, you take away what's actually given you so much life. And I don't mean from an egotistical standpoint where people are looking at you like, oh, my God, look how what a great surfer you are. But just, you don't reach that level without having a love for what you're doing. And so it's not what you do, it's who you are. Yeah. So someone told you you're not that person anymore.
- [41:44]
Koa Smith
Yeah. Then who am I? I don't. I thought I knew, but yeah.
- [41:48]
Gary Brea
Yeah. So you really credit that journey with a total pivot and change in direction in your life?
- [41:56]
Koa Smith
Absolutely. Yeah, Absolutely.
- [41:58]
Gary Brea
That is it. That is so analogous to so many stories that I hear. You know, I don't know that I've ever actually heard someone in a deep state of struggling with drug addiction and alcohol addiction, post traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, ruminating thoughts that hasn't gone on a similar journey and had just a profound experience, is what you're saying.
- [42:24]
Koa Smith
Yeah.
- [42:25]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [42:25]
Koa Smith
I mean, it's such an amazing tool. And to me, like, I've since kind of went down that path of psychedelics, experiencing ayahuasca and, like, different. Different psychedelics. Because I was like, if that healed me, maybe this is my path of, you know, just experiment experiencing these different experiences. And when you do these experiences, you just feel like you're like taking a vacation and just talking to the creator. And it feels so natural when you're doing it.
- [43:02]
Gary Brea
It's just like, you weren't freaked out. You weren't scared. You weren't like, make this stop.
- [43:07]
Koa Smith
Yes. Potentially. You know, it's not easy. Like, it shows you stuff that's disgusting and shows you stuff that's godly and beautiful, but in the end, it makes you feel like you're a part of this.
- [43:20]
Gary Brea
All that connection that we're all connected.
- [43:24]
Koa Smith
Yeah. You realize that you're a part of it all.
- [43:27]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [43:28]
Koa Smith
And I feel like, that's one of the biggest things with humanity right now is they're not feeling the connection.
- [43:34]
Gary Brea
I totally agree.
- [43:35]
Koa Smith
So caught up in this right here and the way they look, their job, how much money matter, you know, all of this. And they're not connected to the. What's beyond Source. What's beyond. They're not connecting to Source. And that can come to you in any religion. It can come to you in whatever you want to call it, but it's. It's there. And if you just spend time connecting with it, your life gets a lot easier because then all of a sudden you realize that it's all good.
- [44:09]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [44:10]
Koa Smith
You can't really, like, it's. It's gonna be. It's gonna be all right.
- [44:13]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [44:14]
Koa Smith
You know what I mean? And. Yeah.
- [44:15]
Gary Brea
You know, years ago, I had a vacation. I took my kids on an extreme vacation in Costa Rica. And we did, like.
- [44:20]
Koa Smith
An extreme vacation.
- [44:21]
Gary Brea
Yeah. Yeah. So it was like 10 days. My sons, my daughter hated it, but we did, like, repelling whitewater rafting, canyoneering, spelunking.
- [44:34]
Koa Smith
You know, we.
- [44:35]
Gary Brea
We did everything that was dangerous in Costa Rica for. For days. And. And I had a speaking engagement in Miami and. And. And I had to leave the jungle and. And fly back to Miami without. Before the family left and I landed. And it was actually this $100 million mastermind event that live nightclub during the day. I never forget. I woke up in the jungle in Costa Rica, and at like, five, six o' clock at night, I was walking into live nightclub. And it felt so surreal. Like, this is all just fake. This is just. This is a distraction. This is all meant to distract us. Like, I had one of those very weird. Like, I wanted to get back to the jungle. Like, I wanted to go back so bad, just get back on the plane. And I remember that experience, and I think, I guess that's as close as I've had to a psychedelic experience. But I know what you mean. When you look at the natural world and you've. And somehow you've reframed it from this experience, so you look at life completely differently after that. You know, I'm all about optimizing performance. And lately I've been using the ION weighted vest during my workouts, and it's been a game changer. It isn't your average weighted vest. It's designed to fit, like a second skin, activating your core, improving blood flow, and even helping you with recovery while you train. What I love most is that the weight is perfectly distributed. It doesn't Pull on your shoulders or throw off your alignment. Whether I'm doing strength training or cardio or just taking a walk, I'm burning more calories, building muscle, and pushing my endurance even further. If you're serious about leveling up your training and unlocking your full potential, check out the ION weighted vest@iongear.com that's a I O-N gear.com and you can use code ultimate for 10 off and start training smarter today. Now let's get back to the ultimate human podcast.
- [46:27]
Koa Smith
Yeah, and I think that's where like medit. I, I really enjoy meditation nowadays. People are like, oh, like, you are a big mushroom guy. Like, you probably just eat mushrooms all the time. Like, yeah. Or like, let's trip your way through life. Yeah, let's go eat some mushrooms. Like, I'm like, I'm like, no, you know, like, if I'm doing it, I'm going all in. And it's probably like once every three years now.
- [46:51]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [46:52]
Koa Smith
You know, but for me, meditation and going really deep takes me to that realm. But like I said before about like the insights you get, the insights become very clean and clear where when you do psychedelics, it's a tool that, like, if it, if you need it, it'll, it'll show you it. But if you can also get there, and it's a lot more mellow with meditation and like you're driving the ship when you're meditating.
- [47:22]
Gary Brea
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're just on the ship.
- [47:26]
Koa Smith
I'm back, you know. Yeah, yeah. So I think that's an important engagement that I'd like to tell is like, psychedelics are there and it's a very powerful tool. If you need it, use it. But also there's, there's, you can get there through meditation, but it takes a lot more self realization, a lot of facing yourself, a lot of surrendering, letting go and dealing with, with your stuff. And then it, you can get there right there.
- [47:51]
Gary Brea
So, so, you know, getting rid of the stimulants, getting rid of the crappy food. Now you're on this journey with paraxanthine, parazanthine.
- [48:02]
Koa Smith
Journey.
- [48:03]
Gary Brea
Well, I mean, it's part of your journey, right?
- [48:05]
Koa Smith
Yeah, no, for sure.
- [48:07]
Gary Brea
And which is a caffeine metabolite. And I've, I've had some experience with it before, but it's, it's, it actually gives the same kind of feeling as caffeine without jitters, without crashes. Was that because of this experience that you had where you're like, I'm gonna get all of these stimulants out of my life, you know, fix my diet.
- [48:32]
Koa Smith
Yeah. I think slightly like that's what started the path, but I think what you said about your experience coming back to reality from the jungle and realizing like all the distractions. I think nowadays we've been fed that we're just misled is. Is what we've been. We can't trust, like, oh, well, I thought this was good for you. Oh, that gives you cancer. Oh, I thought this was good for you. Nope, that doesn't help you at all.
- [48:57]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [48:58]
Koa Smith
And I mean, being a professional surfer, like, I mean, it's kind of funny being a professional surfer. Like, you got to do what it takes to make money. And a lot of people are sponsored by Red Bull and Monster and like all these energy drinks. And I was sponsored by Celsius at the time. And then all of a sudden I realized I was like, I can't. I don't want to be a part of this anymore.
- [49:20]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [49:20]
Koa Smith
Like, I don't want to. All the hard work I do, all the self work I do in the training and the diet and all these sacrifices, I'm not gonna be like, oh, and I drink Celsius and that's why I feel so good. So that was part of it, why I got introduced to Tianni. He saw one of my. My mud water documentaries where I talked about this whole experience and he was. He wanted to start like an electrolyte energy drink. So just to like.
- [49:52]
Gary Brea
But a natural one.
- [49:54]
Koa Smith
But a natural. Exactly. With. Powered by Paraxanthine to help people get the right energy. The energy that is gonna make you feel connected and focused and clear. Not just like. Yeah, which is fun sometimes.
- [50:11]
Gary Brea
I've always hated like the pre workouts like C4 and the high, like Mao Wong and caffeine and like the. The no. 2 boosters. I mean, I took them years, years ago and like coming out of college and like, I always felt terrible on them. Well, maybe.
- [50:29]
Koa Smith
Yeah. You're kind of like, is this. This is what successful is what it's taking.
- [50:33]
Gary Brea
Yeah, exactly. Working for them to succeed. Yeah.
- [50:35]
Koa Smith
But I think there's an age of. Of truth and like being able to provide. I feel like Paris and then is going to be like the future. Right. It's like when I take it, I feel so clear, I feel so motivated and it helps me tap into that like creative flow state more where other caffeines will out jitter me and then almost like I'm just anxious and afraid to do anything.
- [50:59]
Gary Brea
Right.
- [51:00]
Koa Smith
So. Yeah. It's been a really fun journey and hearing the feedback of it, of getting people off of those crazy energy drinks and realizing, like, oh, I can actually tap into my own energy. This makes me feel like, so clear and so good.
- [51:15]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [51:16]
Koa Smith
I mean, we're all here. We, we're playing the game. We have to make money somehow to fund this life. And if I can do it in a way that's like bringing good to humanity, it's the way I want to do it.
- [51:29]
Gary Brea
I love it. So tell me about your brand journeys now that you're on, because I know you've got a, you know, a lot of things going right now, but it's, it's nice to know the story that leads to the brands because I think most people, you know, everybody's a capitalist at the end of the day. Right. I mean, we have to fund our lifestyle. Like you said, we need our hyperbaric
- [51:50]
Koa Smith
chamber, you know, in our house. Yeah.
- [51:55]
Gary Brea
But if we can get it from
- [51:57]
Koa Smith
leading people to feeling better and more connected, then that's, that's.
- [52:00]
Gary Brea
I think I've ever done a podcast like this.
- [52:01]
Koa Smith
There we go.
- [52:02]
Gary Brea
My team's like, you don't have shoes on. Like, you just killed the brand right there. Gorgeous toes. Yeah. My wife's gonna be like, you did not just put your toes on the podcast. Like, she's gonna kill me.
- [52:15]
Koa Smith
Oh, my gosh. But, yeah, I mean, it's like I said with, with my brothers, we were kind of on the forefront of that or we were healthy. We, we were watching our diet at a very young age, and sunlight.
- [52:29]
Gary Brea
You're exercising, you're, you're, you're breathing whether you want it or not. I mean, like, you know, when you're surfing, you're almost doing like a Wim Hof style breathing.
- [52:38]
Koa Smith
Anyway, we're all, we also live in Hawaii, which is like the most natural environment. We're surfing. We're so healthy. I think it really started hitting us when we started living in places, other places in California and this, where our natural routine wasn't giving us all of this and we weren't feeling super strong and healthy and powerful. So then we had to start learning how to do it on the road, you know what I mean? But one of the first endeavors, my brothers and I and our good friend Ko Rothman started a little cafe on the North Shore of Oahu. It was just like healthy smoothie bowls, bullet coffees, you know, from Laird Hamilton, basically.
- [53:20]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [53:21]
Koa Smith
And that, that has been a 10 year process. Now we have five locations on Oahu and then we just franchise. We sold 13 districts in California.
- [53:33]
Gary Brea
Okay.
- [53:33]
Koa Smith
So it's getting to the point that it's growing and it's turning into something and it's kind of scary and it's really, really cool. But the goal with that was just, you know, when we go to a store and it's getting easier nowadays, but 10 years ago, if you're not eating at home, you're not really getting a good meal, Right.
- [53:54]
Gary Brea
That's so true.
- [53:55]
Koa Smith
It's a little easier nowadays, a little
- [53:56]
Gary Brea
bit easier now, but still.
- [53:58]
Koa Smith
Yeah, but the goal is, you know, creating a cafe. It's seed oil free. It's, you know, it's got good fruit, good coffees, good environment. Just like happy, positive vibes. Like, it's yellow, it's bright, it's like super positive affirmations everywhere. Yeah. So that's been a cool process.
- [54:18]
Gary Brea
Yeah. And. And tell me about the Paraxanthine drink is.
- [54:22]
Koa Smith
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think. Yeah, like I said, wanting to create something that's healthy and just available for people. And it's called Foreign Waters.
- [54:36]
Gary Brea
Foreign Waters.
- [54:36]
Koa Smith
Foreign Waters, yeah. And it's an electrolyte energy drink. We combine, like. Yeah. Hydration, vitamins, parazine, minerals. Right now it's just in a packet. You put it in your water. We're coming out with four new flavors right now.
- [54:55]
Gary Brea
You have to fire me up on some. I hope there's something.
- [54:57]
Koa Smith
Oh, I brought you. Yeah.
- [54:58]
Gary Brea
Okay, good. All right.
- [54:59]
Koa Smith
I would love to hear what.
- [55:01]
Gary Brea
I will be the judge of this. Exactly. Yeah.
- [55:04]
Koa Smith
I mean, I'd be stoked to hear what you think about the ingredients. Yeah. We have an excellent team, and we're trying to bring, like, really high quality ingredients.
- [55:12]
Gary Brea
Yeah.
- [55:12]
Koa Smith
Which is hard because people don't want to pay a lot of money for things, it turns out.
- [55:16]
Gary Brea
Yeah. But, you know, I love these passion projects that turn, you know, passion turned entrepreneurialism, you know, you know, I'm a capitalist, too. And I know I really wish the biggest, most profitable, impactful brands in the world were in service to humanity. You know, they really cared about what was going into the bodies that they're serving instead of the chemicals and synthetics and pharmaceuticals. I mean, you can make a. You can make money doing that too, but there's no reason to not find a path to make a better, you know, better place for humanity and. And be a capitalist at the same time. It's. One is not evil. The love of money is the root of all evil. Not. Not money.
- [55:56]
Koa Smith
Yeah.
- [55:56]
Gary Brea
And it sounds like your journey really Shaped your entrepreneurial path. 100.
- [56:02]
Koa Smith
Yeah.
- [56:02]
Gary Brea
And you know, you, you've had a lot of struggles and over overcome a lot of things, especially going from being such a highly regarded and performing professional to then, you know, essentially being told that you're not who you are anymore. Coming back from that, it's, it's no surprise to me that you've reframed that journey. And I mean, I think you're going to be really successful in all these. I just feel you appreciate it.
- [56:26]
Koa Smith
Yeah.
- [56:27]
Gary Brea
But so how does my audience, if they want to know more about you, how do they find you?
- [56:33]
Koa Smith
Yeah, mostly active on social media. Koa Smith on Instagram, it's koa Smith on YouTube and TikTok.
- [56:41]
Gary Brea
Okay.
- [56:43]
Koa Smith
And yeah, we're playing that game.
- [56:45]
Gary Brea
Yeah, you gotta play that game.
- [56:48]
Koa Smith
Right. But I bring a lot of like my wisdom and insights that I learned from the ocean. Try to just pepper that through my entire social media. I have my own school, it's called the Way of the Surfer.
- [57:02]
Gary Brea
Wow.
- [57:03]
Koa Smith
Where I'm starting to like, I'm starting to try to put all these things that I've learned that, that help me just feel connected and good. Like guided breathworks, simple guided diet. Like I'm just.
- [57:18]
Gary Brea
What does your diet look like?
- [57:20]
Koa Smith
Yeah, just whole foods.
- [57:22]
Gary Brea
Yeah, Love that.
- [57:22]
Koa Smith
I mean, I'm to the point where I feel so strong that if I. Whoa. If I have chips, it's not going to like destroy me.
- [57:33]
Gary Brea
Right, right.
- [57:33]
Koa Smith
If I eat bread, I'm going to be okay. There was a time though where I was like so sensitive to everything.
- [57:40]
Gary Brea
Right.
- [57:40]
Koa Smith
But a lot of grass fed steak. I mean, I followed Paul Saladino, his program for like six months and I felt the strongest, best I've ever felt. I feel like it healed a lot for me, but now it's like a little bit more balanced with yeah, a lot of fruit, a lot of, not a lot of vegetables, but sweet potatoes, a little bit veggies, a lot of steak.
- [58:03]
Gary Brea
Yeah, no, that's great. I mean it sounds very much the way that, that I eat. So I wind down all my podcasts by asking my guests the same question and there's no right or wrong answer to this question. But. But what does it mean to you to be an ultimate human?
- [58:18]
Koa Smith
To be an ultimate human? I feel like the pursuit, the pursuit of being an ultimate human makes you an ultimate human where you are constantly open to new potentials. You're constantly exploring your own potential and you're not letting fear like restrain you in this life. I don't know if that's a word, but you know what I mean?
- [58:48]
Gary Brea
It is. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we. We talked about how fear narrows our ability to make decisions.
- [58:54]
Koa Smith
Yeah.
- [58:54]
Gary Brea
You know, I think it makes everything worse, and there's no way to go through life without it. So we've got to figure out ways to manage it.
- [59:01]
Koa Smith
Yeah.
- [59:01]
Gary Brea
And harness it.
- [59:03]
Koa Smith
Thanks to people like you, we're gonna. In the next five to ten years, we're gonna. We're gonna learn what an unlimited human is.
- [59:11]
Gary Brea
Yeah. Yeah.
- [59:12]
Koa Smith
And, like, what are we capable of? And I think that that's the mission right now. If we were truly trusting, unlimited, doing all the right things and aligned, what are we capable of? And, I mean, I go back to, like, the ancient Hawaiians and the way they lived. They were, like, perfectly in balance with life, and a lot of cultures had psychedelics in it. Ancient Hawaiians, I think they had one light psychedelic, but they also had kava, which would, like, relax them a little bit. But they were so connected, and they were. There's stories of, like, people being able to communicate from island to island with telepathy. And, like, there's these. This next level of connection and human ability that becomes accessible when you're. When you are living in that natural flow. So I'm interested to see in the next, like, 10 years, what we all discover of, like, what is an unlimited human. Ultimate human.
- [60:27]
Gary Brea
That's great, man. That's maybe one of the best answers I've gotten on my podcast. Thank you, Koa. Thank you for coming on the ultimate Human podcast, man. You're a legend. Thank you. I think your story is going to resonate a lot with my audience. And until next time, guys, that's just science.